‘Society will answer those pleased at the supposed end of the initiative’

Kurdish writer and intellectual Ümit Fırat emphasized in remarks to Sunday’s Zaman that violence would not solve the Kurdish problem and that declaring martial law would be disastrous. “What would you accomplish by declaring the region an OHAL? This would only increase the victimhood of people in the region. … I find the democratic initiative period to be a good and sincere one. … The government shouldn’t be undecided about [the democratic initiative]. They must strengthen the democracy that eradicates violence instead of violence itself, which they should oppose. Those who lay ambush to soldiers, attack military outposts and detonate mines and bombs have a desire: They want to prevent society from developing expectations over the good pace of [the initiative]. This is an absolutely flawed understanding,” he said.

Cevat Öneş, former deputy undersecretary at the National Intelligence Organization (MİT), said: “I don’t find it correct for OHAL to be discussed. It’s not a situation that suits today’s Turkey. They’re saying that the initiative is over; in my opinion it hasn’t ended, it’s just slowed. Within these global conditions and domestic dynamics, nobody can put an end to the initiative. New steps need to be taken toward democratization. This process should be carried out with speed. A party that can’t log progress on this issue can’t be elected and can’t come to power.”

Similarly, writer-researcher Aytekin Yılmaz of the Association of Confronting the Past and Researching Social Events says that the idea of declaring martial law in the Southeast would only add fuel to the fire. “Speaking of OHAL in today’s Turkey is nothing more than lunacy. What would be the goal of doing so? Are they dreaming of a Turkey with more blood, more chaos and more pressure? The AK Party wants to make major moves, but it’s a reality that they’re caught between pincers. Despite this, the initiative must be continued -- the fact that a solution to this problem cannot be found in weaponry is a truth that has been known in Turkey for a century.”

The experts also decry speculation that a new wave of PKK terrorist attacks in Turkey in recent days marks the end of the government’s initiative. Intellectuals and Kurdish and Turkish citizens who believe in democracy say that the government will continue with the democratic initiative until it produces the desired results. Urging that this process proceed with definite steps, the experts say that this is what society demands of its leaders.

Yılmaz weighed in: “The loss of human life is painful beyond description. We’ve been being killed for years, and the unfortunate result is clear. Steps are [now] being taken that the courage could not be summoned for throughout this nation’s republican history. Along with this, those who want to throw the initiative off course have also not rested. This process begun by the AK Party must be perpetuated with concrete steps, and it would have the public’s support in such a venture.”

Pro-Kurdish Rights and Freedoms Party (HAK-PAR) Chairman Bayram Bozyel says that the recent spate of terrorist attacks are, in fact, aimed at the democratic initiative itself. “Those exerting efforts toward that end will see in time that they are wrong. … Armed conflict is a method that’s been exhausted by the state at this point; and the same goes for the PKK. … Nobody should say happily that the initiative is over – it’s not over and it’s not going to end. Kurds, Turks and everyone who believes in democracy must take steps down this path, and the government must draw strength from this and embellish the process with concrete steps,” he said.

Former MİT official Öneş agrees that the PKK is trying to sabotage the democratic initiative, saying: “The latest incidents are tactical attacks by the PKK. The PKK is both insisting that the government talk to it and at the same time it wants to be the sole power in control of legal Kurdish politics being conducted in Turkey. This attitude isn’t consistent with a path to peace. When we look at the debates in the last few days, we see that the atmosphere in Turkey is returning to that of the 1990s -- except that in society, there is a desire for a solution to the Kurdish problem and for peace. I think that the actors in the political arena need to take note of this.”

Meanwhile, observers are also leveling criticism at the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK), noting that the military has available to it every resource in the war on terrorism and thus has no excuse for its gross negligence. Terrorism and strategic expert Dr. Birol Akgün says that it is unacceptable for the military of a nation that has been fighting terrorism for 30 years to display such incompetence. Akgün decries Turkey’s dependence on foreign sources for weapons technology, saying: “If you’re dependent on foreign countries for weapons, then you’ll experience these weaknesses, because you can’t trust [the technology]. That is what lurks beneath these incidents. How reliable is the information coming from the Herons that we spent millions of dollars to purchase? If the intelligence coming in is sound and just wasn’t appropriately evaluated, then you have a technical intelligence error at hand. This is negligence, betrayal. After such incidents, there’s also an element of psychological exhaustion that develops. Everyone is affected by this. For 30 years, there’s been negligence.”

The solution, some say, lies in completing the transition to a professional army that would be more suited to combating the PKK, which is mobile and utilizes guerilla tactics against fixed military targets. “Everyone has a share of responsibility in the events that have been taking place,” Sinan Oğan, president of the International Relations and Strategic Analysis Center (TÜRKSAM). “I oppose Turkey carrying out the struggle against terrorism by itself. I think that in the struggle against terror, the Special Operations Unit must be restructured. The war on terror should be run by the Interior Ministry.”

Oğan echoed common criticisms of the Turkish military’s strategy in fighting the PKK, pointing out that sending young men performing their mandatory military service to fight seasoned terrorist operatives would naturally result in many deaths on the Turkish side. “You’re sending someone who’s received three months of training to face a terrorist who’s been in the [PKK bases in the] mountains for 20 years. You have to be at the same level as the terrorist you’re fighting. As well as s/he knows that geography, you have to know it just as well. This isn’t a job for 18-year-old children to do, for we’re facing an international terrorist organization,” he emphasized. “This issue must have a national counterterrorism strategy determined for it by the government, military and opposition, and this must be implemented without turning it into a tool for domestic politics. We’ve been fighting for 30 years -- if we’re going to have to fight for another 30, then we need to be structured accordingly.”

“We need a professional army; this is something to be done in the long term. In the short term, special units should be established subordinate to the Interior Ministry. And we need to not think of the struggle only in armed terms. If we don’t also take into consideration social, economic and political factors, then our efforts will be incomplete,” Oğan said.